1. Field of Technology
The present disclosure relates generally to treatment and tinnitus and, more particularly, to the use of a bimodal stimulation, with stimulation of the auditory and somatosensory systems, to treat tinnitus.
2. Background
The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventor, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Tinnitus is the phantom perception of sound experienced in a subject's ear or head, when no actual sound is present. Tinnitus, considered subjective phenomenon, can vary in degrees of severity. One commonly referred to expression of tinnitus is “ringing in the ears”; but there are many different forms of tinnitus.
Tinnitus has been linked to somatosensory innervation of the auditory system. For example, both tinnitus patients and normal subjects report that somatosensory stimuli such as pressure on the face or movement of the jaw or neck can elicit or modulate the tinnitus perception. In terms of physiology, converging somatosensory and auditory inputs are integrated in the dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN), an auditory brainstem nucleus receiving afferent input from the auditory nerve. It is believed that somatosensory input to this DCN plays a role in the induction of tonotopically-restricted hyperactivity in the DCN that has been correlated with tinnitus.
Unfortunately, present techniques for reducing tinnitus are inadequate. Some techniques, for example, are overly intrusive, requiring deep brain access through embedded probes, which makes these techniques undesirable for widespread use. Some techniques provide temporary relief from the tinnitus using external stimuli but fail to address the underlying causes of tinnitus in patients, leaving patient's susceptible to further tinnitus bouts, and often soon after treatment.